Awesome racquet but.....

History: Longtime Prestige mid user. Did not like the youtek version so wanted to swithc.

Current equipment: recently bought Donnay Platinum 94

Positive: It is a beautiful racquet. Magical on some shots. I mean it is easy to generate insane topspin as well as good for slicing and dicing. Great for volleys too. All in all a great feeling racquet. When I purchased it I had my doubts as I found neither wilson or prince able to replicate the prestige feel and control. But I do believe Donnay hit a home run with this. It gives prestige like control but abit more forgiving and easier to generate topspin with even though it like the prestige is 18*20. It is great to see Donnay make such a strong comeback with these thin beamed racquets. I know some like them some dont but I love it. However, there is one issue that is bothering me and I want to get some clarity on it from anyone out there as well as Donnay experts such as Kal.

Issue: It liked theprestige both claim to be 7pts head light. However, when I played with it today I felt it to be abit too head heavy. I do not know if it is my imagination but it did not feel the 325 gms it says on the sticker or the 7pts head light on the TW website. I had heard on these message boards about some posters having a bad experience and finding lead tape on the hoop of the Donnay xred racquet. I hope I do not have to take my racquet apart to find if this is there or not? Rest assured I do not feel like taking apart this beautiful object but am worried. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance

Issue: It liked theprestige both claim to be 7pts head light. However, when I played with it today I felt it to be abit too head heavy. I do not know if it is my imagination but it did not feel the 325 gms it says on the sticker or the 7pts head light on the TW website. I had heard on these message boards about some posters having a bad experience and finding lead tape on the hoop of the Donnay xred racquet. I hope I do not have to take my racquet apart to find if this is there or not? Rest assured I do not feel like taking apart this beautiful object but am worried. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance

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Get a scale, a ruler and something round and thin (like a pen or something) and check weight and approximate balance yourself. It's real easy. You should confirm what the actual figures are before writing, I think. If the racket is heavily polarized or depolarized lenghthwise, it can feel very different from another with the exact same weight and balance. This will probably help others to better help you..

I loved the MG Prestige mid though it was a bit too much for me. I bought 2 platinum 98s which I think was a mistake as I never got the feel for them. Maybe the 94 would have been a good choice but Im on to something else now. I had bought the plats from donnay when they offered a satsifaction guarantee and wanted to change them, but they never responded to my emails.

As TT said, both weight and especially balance are easy to test yourself. My plats had proper weight and balance.

I had heard on these message boards about some posters having a bad experience and finding lead tape on the hoop of the Donnay xred racquet. I hope I do not have to take my racquet apart to find if this is there or not?

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You can peek under the grommit with a swiss-knife or something. If there's leadtape, it should be visible... That's how I found out on my x-red99.

The Donnays have a serial number with unstrung weight and balance listed. Just under the barcode is a string of numbers, like this:

291314700226

The first three numbers is the unstrung weight in grams, so 291 grams here. Strung with nylon it will be about 306 g, with poly 307 g and with gut 308 g.

The next three numbers are the unstrung balance, so 31.4 cm in this case. Add one centimeter for the strings and the racquet should be 32.4cm strung.

Swingweight is not listed on the serial number and probably varies widely for this model. Donnay lists it as having 320+ swingweight, but TW found an average of 313 and TW University tested a frame with 308 swingweight.

If you happened to get a high-swingweight stick that could also explain the head-heavy feeling you get from it.

I loved the MG Prestige mid though it was a bit too much for me. I bought 2 platinum 98s which I think was a mistake as I never got the feel for them. Maybe the 94 would have been a good choice but Im on to something else now. I had bought the plats from donnay when they offered a satsifaction guarantee and wanted to change them, but they never responded to my emails.

As TT said, both weight and especially balance are easy to test yourself. My plats had proper weight and balance.

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After Intelli 93 my fav prest was microgel. The platinum 94 is a dream stick for dicing and spinning. I go mine from TW like my last 3 prestiges and hoped I am getting an accurately weighted stick. I will check it out later on still wont use a swissarmy knife on it. Its just the definition of eye candy

Prob just how the weight is distributed. I have a racket that is 7pts hl and my friends IG speed is the same yet my racket feels like its got much more weight in the head.

From what I remember with the 94 I added a leather grip and overgrip and a few of grams at 12 and that seemed to do the trick.

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well I cam try that but at the moment am abit hesitant to experiment with the leather grip. I also bought lead tape. Do you add a leather grip and then tape at 12 to balance it out. As I assume to make it head light you would not add lead tape at 12 if you are adding a leather grip. But prolly u do it to balance it out.

Donnay really do make beautiful solid sticks though I must say. P.s. I struck the wiescannon silverstring 17s on it at 54. Next on the list to put on is either black 5 edge , tour bite, dunlop black widow or the ng 17s . I have only played one day with it and am looking forward to tomms hit.

The Donnays have a serial number with unstrung weight and balance listed. Just under the barcode is a string of numbers, like this:

291314700226

The first three numbers is the unstrung weight in grams, so 291 grams here. Strung with nylon it will be about 306 g, with poly 307 g and with gut 308 g.

The next three numbers are the unstrung balance, so 31.4 cm in this case. Add one centimeter for the strings and the racquet should be 32.4cm strung.

Swingweight is not listed on the serial number and probably varies widely for this model. Donnay lists it as having 320+ swingweight, but TW found an average of 313 and TW University tested a frame with 308 swingweight.

If you happened to get a high-swingweight stick that could also explain the head-heavy feeling you get from it.

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interesting info. I had no idea. I checked the Donnay and found the first three numbers 319 so by your calculations with strings it should be 334 grams.

the next three numbers are 308 so I assume 30.8 and plus 1 more centimeter 31.8. I dunno how to check the swingweight and I dont know how accurate placing the racquet on a scale will be as the entire racquet obviously cannot fit on the scale I have. A plate possibly not a racq.

History: Longtime Prestige mid user. Did not like the youtek version so wanted to swithc.

Current equipment: recently bought Donnay Platinum 94

Positive: It is a beautiful racquet. Magical on some shots. I mean it is easy to generate insane topspin as well as good for slicing and dicing. Great for volleys too. All in all a great feeling racquet. When I purchased it I had my doubts as I found neither wilson or prince able to replicate the prestige feel and control. But I do believe Donnay hit a home run with this. It gives prestige like control but abit more forgiving and easier to generate topspin with even though it like the prestige is 18*20. It is great to see Donnay make such a strong comeback with these thin beamed racquets. I know some like them some dont but I love it. However, there is one issue that is bothering me and I want to get some clarity on it from anyone out there as well as Donnay experts such as Kal.

Issue: It liked theprestige both claim to be 7pts head light. However, when I played with it today I felt it to be abit too head heavy. I do not know if it is my imagination but it did not feel the 325 gms it says on the sticker or the 7pts head light on the TW website. I had heard on these message boards about some posters having a bad experience and finding lead tape on the hoop of the Donnay xred racquet. I hope I do not have to take my racquet apart to find if this is there or not? Rest assured I do not feel like taking apart this beautiful object but am worried. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance

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To go from a prestige to a Donnay is like going from a six one 95 to a Walmart racquet

interesting info. I had no idea. I checked the Donnay and found the first three numbers 319 so by your calculations with strings it should be 334 grams.

the next three numbers are 308 so I assume 30.8 and plus 1 more centimeter 31.8. I dunno how to check the swingweight and I dont know how accurate placing the racquet on a scale will be as the entire racquet obviously cannot fit on the scale I have. A plate possibly not a racq.

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For balance and weight:
Measure balance first, then place the racket on the scale with your measured balance point right in the middle of the scale. It doesn't have to fit entirely as long as it pushes the scale straight down, which it will by doing this...

For balance and weight:
Measure balance first, then place the racket on the scale with your measured balance point right in the middle of the scale. It doesn't have to fit entirely as long as it pushes the scale straight down, which it will by doing this...

Well I put it on the scale today and tried to get the weight as accurately as possible. Put the throat on it what I assumed was the balance point and got a reading of of roughly 330 gms. have not checked out the swingweight as of yet.

well your facts can be more relevant to you. I have been playing with the prestiges for about 14 years now. I believe I am in a good place to judge both racquets. Maybe for your game the platinum did not suit but to call it a wallmart racq is just plain disingenuous. The racq is a work of art. As Donnays generally are.

You'll never ever hear a bad word out of my mouth about a Donnay.
Won my first tournament with a Donnay, back in the seventies, Donnay Allwood.

But I love the Prestige... and will stick to Head for a looooong time

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I hear ya. But Im still curious as to why the head of the Donnay feels abit heavier than the head of my old prestiges except youtek the microgel and the liquidmetal version all feel softer in the head. Since both are weighted at 7pts head light why the difference? Someone told me it is because Head keep their weight in the throat and handle area and Donnay more so in the hoop area. If that is so how can they call it 7pts head light?

Two racquets can have the same weight, same balance, yet feel different. Imagine a metal cylinder of about 10 in long. The balance point would be in the middle, at 5 in from either end. Now consider a thin metal rod of the same length with two weights at each end (a barbell), such that the cylinder and the barbell have the same weight. The balance point would be exactly in the middle for both yet the swing weight would be very different.

Two racquets can have the same weight, same balance, yet feel different. Imagine a metal cylinder of about 10 in long. The balance point would be in the middle, at 5 in from either end. Now consider a thin metal rod of the same length with two weights at each end (a barbell), such that the cylinder and the barbell have the same weight. The balance point would be exactly in the middle for both yet the swing weight would be very different.

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Yep, and the spec that tells you where the barbells are is swingweight. If you've got two racquets with the same weight and balance and one feels "heavier" in the head, it's because the swingweight on that one is higher. Swingweight is a very good approximation of how much mass is distributed to the head of the racquet. If swingweight is high the head will feel heavy.

Donnay's target spec for swingweight on the Platinum is 325, but TW's average of five frames they measured was 313. But swingweight varies widely from racquet to racquet. My guess is that OP got a high swingweight frame.

Yep, and the spec that tells you where the barbells are is swingweight. If you've got two racquets with the same weight and balance and one feels "heavier" in the head, it's because the swingweight on that one is higher. Swingweight is a very good approximation of how much mass is distributed to the head of the racquet. If swingweight is high the head will feel heavy.

Donnay's target spec for swingweight on the Platinum is 325, but TW's average of five frames they measured was 313. But swingweight varies widely from racquet to racquet. My guess is that OP got a high swingweight frame.

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I agree the main reason I wanted to buy this was that the swingweight was supposedly lower than the prestige mid especially the youtek version which feels just plain heavy. Another person told me that because the racqs are thin beam maybe it would take me a bit more time to adjust to it i.e. the swingweight might be correct on it but it takes more getting used to. I dunno/ I want to avoid busting open the grommets to find out.